We made it to the second day of 2024! This means that probably 50% of us have already broken our New Year’s resolutions. But hey, there is always next year! Have you ever wondered why it is so difficult to change, form new habits, or keep promises? It’s likely a good amount is psychology, and some is brain chemistry. But I call it “the human condition.” We human beings have an excellent track record of messing things up from the beginning of time.
That brings us to our Bible readings for today: Noah’s ark. It is a story of God’s mercy and justice in a world of human mistakes. We see in Genesis 1-4, that God makes the world good. He divides the light from the dark, sky from sea, land from the waters, and so on. Then Adam and Eve show up on the scene, think they know better than God (don’t we all at times?) and eat the forbidden fruit. The following story of Noah’s ark in Genesis 5-8 is the climax of that first act of disobedience. The world has gone crazy! Humanity has rejected God’s order! So God removes his order from the world (as humans requested). The land and the sea become one, the waters above and below are no longer divided, and the earth is flooded.
The flood was not some random “punishment,” but the natural outcome of humanity wanting to live on its own terms. But here is my challenge for this reading: Don’t miss God’s abundant mercy and grace! God is merciful to Noah and his family (and through them, all of humanity!) through the ark, and the rainbow in the sky is his eternal promise of mercy for the people then, today, and forevermore.
Don’t miss the mercy!
Questions for reflection:
- Where in your own life might you be trying to live “on your own terms” rather than in God’s better dreams and design for your life?
- Even in the difficult places of life, where do you see God’s mercy and love for you?